Content presentation based on transaction history

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses, system, methods, and computer program products are presented for presenting content based on transaction data. A selection module selects a user for an offer in response to the user&#39;s financial transaction data satisfying a transaction metric associated with the offer. A location module determines a target location for an offer based on a user&#39;s financial transaction data. A location module monitors location data from one or more sensors for a user relative to a target location. An offer module dynamically provides an offer to a user in response to monitored location data from one or more sensors satisfying a target location.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part application of and claims priority toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/986,529 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR PROVIDING INDIVIDUALLY-TAILORED ADVERTISING ANALYSIS AND MOTIVATIONBASED ON A USER'S PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT DATA” and filed on May13, 2013, for John Ryan Caldwell, which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

This invention relates to content presentation and more particularlyrelates to determining content to present to a user based on transactiondata for the user.

BACKGROUND

Users are constantly presented with various content intended topersuade, entertain, advertise, or the like. For example, users may bepresented with content on their smart phones, tablet computers,televisions, game consoles, or the like. Even though many users may seethe content, the users may not be the most likely target audience forthe content. In other words, content providers may want their content tobe consumed by an audience that will most likely be affected by thecontent (e.g., purchase advertised goods and/or services). However,determining what content to provide and how and when to effectivelyprovide the content to a particular target audience may be a difficulttask.

SUMMARY

Apparatuses for presenting content based on transaction history aredisclosed. A selection module, in one embodiment, selects a user for anoffer in response to the user's financial transaction data satisfying atransaction metric associated with the offer. In certain embodiments, alocation module determines a target location for an offer based on auser's financial transaction data. A location module, in one embodiment,monitors location data from one or more sensors for a user relative to atarget location. An offer module, in some embodiments, dynamicallyprovides an offer to a user in response to monitored location data fromone or more sensors satisfying a target location.

Other apparatuses for presenting content based on transaction historyare disclosed. In one embodiment, one or more sensors are configured todetermine location data for a user. A location module, in certainembodiments, determines location data for a user using one or moresensors associated with the user, and provides the location data to apersonal financial management (PFM) provider of the user. In a furtherembodiment, an offer module receives an offer for a user in response tolocation data satisfying a target location for the offer. A targetlocation, in various embodiments, is determined based on financialtransaction data of a user stored at a PFM provider. In certainembodiments, a presentation module displays an offer to a user on anelectronic display associated with the user.

Methods for presenting content based on transaction history aredisclosed. A method, in one embodiment, includes selecting a user for anoffer in response to the user's financial transaction data satisfying atransaction metric associated with the offer. A method, in someembodiments, includes determining a target location for an offer basedon a user's financial transaction data. A method, in a furtherembodiment, includes monitoring location data from one or more sensorsfor a user relative to a target location. In various embodiments, amethod includes dynamically providing an offer to a user in response tomonitored location data from one or more sensors satisfying a targetlocation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readilyunderstood, a more particular description of the invention brieflydescribed above will be rendered by reference to specific embodimentsthat are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the inventionwill be described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of asystem for presenting content based on transaction history;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of a module forpresenting content based on transaction history;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of another modulefor presenting content based on transaction history;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment ofa method for presenting content based on transaction history;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment ofanother method for presenting content based on transaction history; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating an embodiment of amethod for presenting content based on transaction history.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the sameembodiment, but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unlessexpressly specified otherwise. The terms “including,” “comprising,”“having,” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to”unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of itemsdoes not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusiveand/or mutually inclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. Theterms “a,” “an,” and “the” also refer to “one or more” unless expresslyspecified otherwise.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics ofthe embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner. One skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that the embodiments may be practicedwithout one or more of the specific features or advantages of aparticular embodiment. In other instances, additional features andadvantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not bepresent in all embodiments.

These features and advantages of the embodiments will become more fullyapparent from the following description and appended claims, or may belearned by the practice of embodiments as set forth hereinafter. As willbe appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method, and/or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having program code embodied thereon.

Many of the functional units described in this specification have beenlabeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize theirimplementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented asa hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits or gate arrays,off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or otherdiscrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmablehardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmablearray logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by varioustypes of processors. An identified module of program code may, forinstance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computerinstructions which may, for instance, be organized as an object,procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identifiedmodule need not be physically located together, but may comprisedisparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joinedlogically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purposefor the module.

Indeed, a module of program code may be a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may even be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated hereinwithin modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organizedwithin any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may becollected as a single data set, or may be distributed over differentlocations including over different storage devices, and may exist, atleast partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.Where a module or portions of a module are implemented in software, theprogram code may be stored and/or propagated on in one or more computerreadable medium(s).

The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (“RAM”), aread-only memory (“ROM”), an erasable programmable read-only memory(“EPROM” or Flash memory), a static random access memory (“SRAM”), aportable compact disc read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), a digital versatiledisk (“DVD”), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encodeddevice such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove havinginstructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of theforegoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not tobe construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves orother freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic wavespropagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., lightpulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signalstransmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

Many of the functional units described in this specification have beenlabeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize theirimplementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented asa hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits or gate arrays,off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or otherdiscrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmablehardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmablearray logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by varioustypes of processors. An identified module of program instructions may,for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks ofcomputer instructions which may, for instance, be organized as anobject, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of anidentified module need not be physically located together, but maycomprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which,when joined logically together, comprise the module and achieve thestated purpose for the module.

The schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams in theFigures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation ofpossible implementations of apparatuses, systems, methods and computerprogram products according to various embodiments of the presentinvention. In this regard, each block in the schematic flowchartdiagrams and/or schematic block diagrams may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executableinstructions of the program code for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s).

It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in theFigures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalentin function, logic, or effect to one or more blocks, or portionsthereof, of the illustrated Figures.

Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in theflowchart and/or block diagrams, they are understood not to limit thescope of the corresponding embodiments. Indeed, some arrows or otherconnectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of the depictedembodiment. For instance, an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoringperiod of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depictedembodiment. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart diagrams, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and program code.

FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a system 100 for presenting contentbased on transaction history. In one embodiment, the system 100 includesone or more information handling devices 102, one or more advertisingmodules 104, one or more data networks 106, one or more third partysystems 108, and/or one or more backend systems 110. In certainembodiments, even though a specific number of information handlingdevices 102, advertising modules 104, data networks 106, third partysystems 108, and backend systems 110 are depicted in FIG. 1, one ofskill in the art will recognize, in light of this disclosure, that anynumber of information handling devices 102, advertising modules 104,data networks 106, third party systems 108, and backend systems 110 maybe included in the system 100 for presenting content based ontransaction history.

In one embodiment, the system 100 includes one or more informationhandling devices 102. The information handing devices 102 may includeone or more of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer,a smart phone, a set-top box, a gaming console, a smart TV, a smartwatch, a fitness band, an optical head-mounted display (e.g., a virtualreality headset, smart glasses, or the like), an HDMI or otherelectronic display dongle, a personal digital assistant, or anothercomputing device comprising a processor (e.g., a central processing unit(CPU), a processor core, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), acontroller, a microcontroller, and/or another semiconductor integratedcircuit device), a volatile memory, and/or a non-volatile storagemedium. In certain embodiments, the information handling devices 102 arecommunicatively coupled to a third party system 108 and/or a backendsystem 110 via a data network 106, described below. The informationhandling devices 102, in a further embodiment, are capable of executingvarious programs, program code, applications, instructions, functions,or the like.

The advertising module 104, in certain embodiments, leverages a user'sfinancial transaction data (e.g., aggregated from multiple entities forpersonal financial management purposes, or the like) to provide dynamic,customized, and/or otherwise relevant content and/or offers to the user.In one embodiment, the advertising module 104 is configured to select auser for an offer in response to the user's financial transaction datasatisfying a transaction metric associated with the offer. In a furtherembodiment, the advertising module 104 is configured to determine atarget location for the offer based on the user's financial transactiondata. In some embodiments, the advertising module 104 is configured tomonitor location data from one or more sensors for the user relative tothe target location. The advertising module 104, in various embodiments,is configured to dynamically display and/or otherwise provide the offerto the user in response to the monitored location data from the one ormore sensors satisfying the target location. In this manner, in certainembodiments, the advertising module 104 may provide content, such asoffers or advertisements, to a user which are highly relevant to theuser's previous and/or future purchases and which the user is likely toaccept or act upon, benefiting both the user and the content provider.

In various embodiments, the advertising module 104 may be embodied ashardware, software, or some combination of hardware and software. In oneembodiment, the advertising module 104 may comprise executable programcode stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium forexecution on a processor of an information handling device 102, a deviceof the third party system 108, the backend system 110, or the like. Forexample, the advertising module 104 may be embodied as executableprogram code executing on one or more of an information handling device102, a third party system 108, a backend system 110, a combination ofone or more of the foregoing, or the like. In such an embodiment, thevarious modules that perform the operations of the advertising module104, as described below, may be located on an information handlingdevice 102, a third party system 108, a backend system 110, acombination of the foregoing, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, the advertising module 104 may be embodied as ahardware appliance that can be installed or deployed in a third partysystem 108, a backend system 110, on a user's information handlingdevice 102, or elsewhere on the data network 106. In certainembodiments, the advertising module 104 may comprise a hardware devicesuch as a secure hardware dongle or other hardware appliance device(e.g., a set-top box, a network appliance, or the like) that attaches toanother information handling device 102, such as a laptop computer, aserver, a tablet computer, a smart phone, or the like, either by a wiredconnection (e.g., a USB connection) or a wireless connection (e.g.,Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi®, near-field communication (NFC), or the like); thatattaches to an electronic display device (e.g., a television or monitorusing an HDMI port, a DisplayPort port, a Mini DisplayPort port, VGAport, DVI port, or the like). A hardware appliance of the advertisingmodule 104 may comprise a power interface, a wired and/or wirelessnetwork interface, a graphical interface that attaches to a display, anelectronic display, and/or a semiconductor integrated circuit device asdescribed below, configured to perform the functions described hereinwith regard to the advertising module 104.

The advertising module 104, in such an embodiment, may comprise asemiconductor integrated circuit device (e.g., one or more chips, die,or other discrete logic hardware), or the like, such as afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic,firmware for an FPGA or other programmable logic, microcode forexecution on a microcontroller, an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a processor, a processor core, or the like. In oneembodiment, the advertising module 104 may be mounted on a printedcircuit board with one or more electrical lines or connections (e.g., tovolatile memory, a non-volatile storage medium, a network interface, aperipheral device, a graphical/display interface. The hardware appliancemay include one or more pins, pads, or other electrical connectionsconfigured to send and receive data (e.g., in communication with one ormore electrical lines of a printed circuit board or the like), and oneor more hardware circuits and/or other electrical circuits configured toperform various functions of the advertising module 104.

The semiconductor integrated circuit device or other hardware applianceof the advertising module 104, in certain embodiments, comprises and/oris communicatively coupled to one or more volatile memory media, whichmay include but is not limited to: random access memory (RAM), dynamicRAM (DRAM), cache, or the like. In one embodiment, the semiconductorintegrated circuit device or other hardware appliance of the advertisingmodule 104 comprises and/or is communicatively coupled to one or morenon-volatile memory media, which may include but is not limited to: NANDflash memory, NOR flash memory, nano random access memory (nano RAM orNRAM), nanocrystal wire-based memory, silicon-oxide based sub-10nanometer process memory, graphene memory,Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (SONOS), resistive RAM (RRAM),programmable metallization cell (PMC), conductive-bridging RAM (CBRAM),magneto-resistive RAM (MRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), phase change RAM (PRAMor PCM), magnetic storage media (e.g., hard disk, tape), optical storagemedia, or the like.

The data network 106, in one embodiment, includes a digitalcommunication network that transmits digital communications. The datanetwork 106 may include a wireless network, such as a wireless cellularnetwork, a local wireless network, such as a Wi-Fi network, a Bluetooth®network, a near-field communication (NFC) network, an ad hoc network,and/or the like. The data network 106 may include a wide area network(WAN), a storage area network (SAN), a local area network (LAN), anoptical fiber network, the internet, or other digital communicationnetwork. The data network 106 may include two or more networks. The datanetwork 106 may include one or more servers, routers, switches, and/orother networking equipment. The data network 106 may also include one ormore computer readable storage media, such as a hard disk drive, anoptical drive, non-volatile memory, RAM, or the like.

The third party system 108, in one embodiment, includes a networkaccessible computing system such as one or more web servers hosting oneor more web sites, an enterprise intranet system, an application server,an application programming interface (API) server, an authenticationserver, or the like. The third party system 108 may include systems thatprovide marketing content related to various institutions ororganizations. For example, the third party system 108 may include asystem providing marketing content for a retailer, an online store, amanufacturer, a financial institution, a university, a governmentagency, or the like. The marketing content may include digital contentsuch as advertisements, promotions, coupons, vouchers, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the backend system 110 facilitates selecting offersfor a user and providing the offers to the user. The backend system 110,for example, may be associated with a personal financial management(PFM) provider that tracks a user's financial transactions, financialgoals and/or budgets, financial contracts, and/or the like. The backendsystem 110 may include one or more servers located remotely to theinformation handling devices 102 and/or the third party systems 108. Thebackend system 110 may include at least a portion of the modules of theadvertising module 104 (e.g., one or more of the sub-modules describedbelow with regard to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3), may comprise hardware of theadvertising module 104, may store executable program code of theadvertising module 104 in one or more non-transitory computer readablestorage media, and/or may otherwise perform one or more of the variousoperations of the advertising module 104 described herein in order toauthenticate and match an unknown user to his/her user data via a securethird party system 108.

FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of a module 200 for presenting contentbased on transaction history. In one embodiment, the module 200 includesan embodiment of an advertising module 104. In certain embodiments, theadvertising module 104 includes one or more of a selection module 202, alocation module 204, and an offer module 206, which are described inmore detail below.

In one embodiment, the selection module 202 is configured to select auser for an offer in response to the user's financial transaction datasatisfying a transaction metric associated with the offer. The user, incertain embodiments, includes an individual, a company or a companyrepresentative, or the like, that has opted-in to have his/her financialtransactions recorded and/or aggregated. For example, a user may opt-in,subscribe, or be a member of a PFM provider that is setup to track,monitor, record, log, or the like, financial transactions, contactinformation, and other personal and/or identification information of theuser, aggregate such information from one or more third party sources(e.g., financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, credit cardcompanies or other lenders, payment processing companies, online paymentproviders; third party aggregators which gather transaction data fromfinancial institutions; and/or the like). In some embodiments, the PFMstores the user's financial transaction data and identification dataidentifying the user securely (e.g., in a secure database or othernon-volatile storage) such that the data is unavailable to unauthorizedusers.

The financial transaction data, in one embodiment, includes dataassociated with different types of financial transactions for the user.Financial transactions may include financial contracts, such asmortgages, auto loans, student loans, and/or the like, cell-phonecontracts, internet contracts, television contracts, utility contracts,and/or other obligations where regular, periodic payments are madeaccording to a payment schedule. Financial transactions may also includepurchases, such as retail purchases, online purchases, grocerypurchases, home improvement purchases, gas purchases, and/or the like.In certain embodiments, the financial transaction data may include datafor individual items that the user purchased, such as an identifier forthe item (e.g., the item's stock keeping unit (SKU) identifier,universal product code (UPC), international article number (EAN), globaltrade item number (GTIN), and/or the like), the purchase price, the dateof purchase, the location of purchase, and/or other details of an itempurchased in a transaction. A transaction, in one embodiment, mayinclude the purchase of multiple items. Thus, in one example, when auser makes a mortgage payment or goes grocery shopping, informationdescribing the mortgage payment, such as amount, interest rate, date ofpayment, amount for interest, amount for principle, or the like; or thegrocery purchases, such as a total amount spent, location of grocerystore, information for individual items purchased, date of purchase, orthe like; may be monitored and recorded by a PFM.

In certain embodiments, an offer selected for a user includes one ormore advertisements, coupons, promotions, discounts, or other marketingmaterials. The offer may be related to a particular entity, such as avendor, a merchant, a service provider, a retailer, a manufacturer, anonline store, or the like. For example, the offer may be a discountavailable for purchases made at Wal-Mart®. In a further embodiment, theoffer may be related to a particular product or service. For example,the offer may be a buy-one-get-one free promotion available on Coke®products. In one embodiment, the offer is related to a financialcontract, such as a mortgage, auto loan, student loan, cell phone plan,or the like. For example, the offer may be a promotion for a lowermortgage interest rate if the user refinances his mortgage using thecompany providing the promotion. The offer, in some embodiments, may beavailable to a user in response to the user making a purchase;subscribing to a service; providing information, via a survey, quiz,poll, or the like; signing-up to be a member of a program, such as aloyalty program; providing contact information; and/or fulfillinganother offer.

In some embodiments, the selection module 202 selects a user for anoffer based on the user's financial transaction data. For example, theselection module 202 may select user A for a discount offer on homeimprovement products based on a recent purchase at The Home Depot®, andmay select user B for an offer to refinance a mortgage based on a recentmortgage payment. In one embodiment, the selection module 202 selects auser for an offer in response to the user's financial transaction datasatisfying a transaction metric associated with the offer. As usedherein, a transaction metric may include a measurable or estimablequantity or unit of a financial transaction and/or series oftransactions that can be used to select an offer for a user. Atransaction metric may include an interest rate, a sum total spent onvarious types of items, a price, an interest rate, a monthly paymentamount, a fee, a vehicle ownership metric, a geographical spendingmetric, a housing cost metric, a food spending metric, an entertainmentspending metric, an income metric, a savings metric, a consistencymetric, a competitor metric, a lifetime value metric, a total spendmetric, a transaction interval metric, and/or the like.

A vehicle ownership metric, in various embodiments, may indicate, basedon a user's financial transaction data, whether a user owns a vehicle, avalue of a user's vehicle, a make and/or model of a user's vehicle, amodel year of a user's vehicle, an amount of time a user has owned avehicle, a number of miles of a user's vehicle, an amount spent on fuelfor a user's vehicle; a date of a last maintenance of a user's vehicle;a cost of a last maintenance of a user's vehicle; a total cost ofmaintenance of a user's vehicle; an average cost (e.g., per month, peryear) of maintenance on and/or of total ownership of a user's vehicle; amonthly loan payment amount for a user's vehicle; an original amountand/or an outstanding balance of a loan for a user's vehicle; and/oranother vehicle ownership metric determined and/or inferred from auser's financial transaction data.

A geographical spending metric, in various embodiments, may indicate,based on a user's financial transaction data, a user's overall spendingin one or more geographic regions, a user's categorized spending in oneor more geographical regions, or the like. A geographic region, incertain embodiments, may comprise a street, a development, a district, acity, a county, a state, and/or another identifiable area. Ageographical spending metric, in one embodiment, may be categorized bytransaction type, with one or more categories and/or subcategories, suchas home, auto, travel, financial, entertainment, medical, food,restaurant, grocery, and/or the like.

A housing cost metric, in various embodiments, may indicate, based on auser's financial transaction data, whether a user owns a residence,whether a user rents/leases a residence, a user's housing costs, alocation of a user's residence, a mortgage interest rate for a user'sresidence, a mortgage balance for a user's residence, an originalmortgage amount for a user's residence, a home owner's insurance paymentamount for a user, a property tax amount for a user's residence, and/orthe like.

A food spending metric, in various embodiments, may indicate, based on auser's financial transaction data, an overall amount a user spends onfood, an amount a user spends on groceries, an amount a user spends onrestaurants, an amount a user spends on food from a particular entityand/or location, or the like. A food spending metric may have varioustime scales, such as per breakfast, per lunch, per dinner, per meal,daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, over a lifetime of the user's financialtransaction data, and/or the like.

A transaction metric, in one embodiment, may comprise an income metricindicating a user's income (e.g., monthly, yearly, by source, grossincome, disposable income, and/or the like). In a further embodiment, atransaction metric may comprise a savings metric indicating an amount ofmoney a user saves (e.g., balance of a savings account; balance of aninvestment account; aggregated total of several savings and/orinvestment accounts; total amount saved; amount saved over a time periodsuch as daily, weekly, monthly, and/or yearly; a rate of saving; and/orthe like).

A transaction metric, in one embodiment, comprises a consistency metricindicating an amount of variation in spending of a user (e.g., variationin total spending over one or more time periods, variation in spendingby category over one or more time periods, and/or the like). Forexample, in one embodiment, an offer provider or advertiser may target auser with consistent spending, for an offer, in an effort to gain aconsistent, loyal customer, or the like. In a further embodiment, anoffer provider or advertiser may target a user with inconsistentspending (e.g., wide variations in spending week to week and/or month tomonth), believing that a user with inconsistent spending may be morelikely to make an impulse purchase, and/or the like.

A competitor metric, in various embodiments, may indicate an amount auser spends at one or more specific competitors of a provider of anoffer, a frequency of transactions a user makes at a competitor of aprovider of an offer, one or more identities of competitors of aprovider of an offer with which a user has transacted, or the like. Inone embodiment, a provider of an offer may identify one or morecompetitors to the selection module 202. In a further embodiment, theselection module 202 may automatically determine one or more competitorsfor a provider of an offer based on a transaction category of theprovider and/or the offer.

A transaction metric, in one embodiment, comprises a lifetime valuemetric indicating a projected total value of a user to a provider of anoffer as a customer, an amount of time until a provider of an offer isprojected to break even on the offer with a user as a customer (e.g.,based on the user's financial transaction data and on a cost of theoffer to the provider), and/or the like. For example, the selectionmodule 202 may determine and/or estimate, based on a user's financialtransaction data, an amount the user is likely to spend on goods and/orservices provided by a provider of an offer, how loyal a user is likelyto be to a provider of an offer, and/or the like, and may determine alifetime value metric based on one or more of the foregoingdeterminations.

A transaction metric, in certain embodiments, comprises a total spendmetric indicating a confidence of whether a user's financial transactiondata (e.g., aggregated by a PFM as described above) includes each of theuser's financial transactions, aggregated from multiple entities (e.g.,banks, credit unions, credit card companies or other lenders, paymentprocessing companies, online payment providers, and/or the like). Ifthere is a low confidence or probability that the selection module 202has access to each of the user's financial transactions (e.g., acomplete and/or substantially complete financial snapshot for the user),it may be unlikely that the selection module 202's determination ofwhether the user's financial transaction data satisfies a transactionmetric associated with an offer is accurate, and a provider of an offermay therefore find the user a poor candidate for the offer, due to theuncertainty of whether the user's financial transaction data iscomplete. Conversely, if there is a high confidence or probability thatthe selection module 202 has access to each of a user's financialtransactions (e.g., a complete and/or substantially complete financialsnapshot for the user), a provider of an offer may have greater trust inthe selection module 202's selection of the user, and may provide theoffer to the user with greater certainty.

The selection module 202, in certain embodiments, may analyze and/orprocess a user's financial transaction data using one or more rules,flags, indicators, and/or the like, to determine a total spend metricindicating a confidence of whether the user's financial transaction dataincludes each of the user's financial transactions (e.g., over apredefined period). For example, in one embodiment, the selection module202 may start at a default confidence level (e.g., 50%, 0.5, 0%, 0,100%, 1, or the like) and may adjust the confidence level for a user'sfinancial transaction data based on one or more confidence factors. Theselection module 202, in certain embodiments, may decrease a confidencelevel if one transaction type in a transaction type pair (e.g., twotypes of transactions that are often seen together within a predefinedperiod) is missing, may increase a confidence level if both transactiontypes in a transaction type pair are present, or the like. For example,a transaction type pair may include a mortgage payment and a utilitypayment; a payment credit on a credit card statement and a correspondingdebit from a bank account; a car payment and fuel purchases; and/oranother transaction type pair.

In a further embodiment, the selection module 202 may increase aconfidence level of a total spend metric if one or more predefined keytransactions are present, and/or may decrease a confidence level of atotal spend metric if one or more predefined key transactions are notpresent in the financial transaction data of a user. A key transaction,in one embodiment, comprises a transaction that is expected to occur foreach user within a predefined period. For example, a key transaction maycomprise a direct deposit and/or payroll check deposit, a mortgageand/or rent payment, at least a threshold amount spent on a personalnecessity (e.g., food), and/or another expected transaction. In certainembodiments, the selection module 202 may be configured to prompt a userto add one or more additional accounts in response to determining aconfidence level below a threshold for a total spend metric for theuser. In another embodiment, the selection module 202 may query a userwhether the user's financial transaction data includes each of theuser's financial transactions, and may base a confidence level of atotal spend metric on the user's answer.

The selection module 202, in one embodiment, may determine a confidencelevel of a total spend metric and/or another transaction metric byprocessing users' financial transaction data using one or morepredefined rules, or the like. In a further embodiment, the selectionmodule 202 may determine a confidence level of a total spend metricand/or another transaction metric dynamically, using machine learning orother artificial intelligence, or the like, causing an accuracy of theselection module 202's determinations to increase over time (e.g., atleast up to a point) as the selection module 202 learns from and detectspatterns in the financial transaction data.

A transaction metric, in certain embodiments, may comprise a transactioninterval metric indicating an amount of time spanned by a user'sfinancial transaction data (e.g., one month, two months, three months,six months, a year, two years, three years, and/or the like). Forexample, in one embodiment, a provider of an offer for a long term orlarge purchase, that is not an impulse purchase, may prefer to presentthe offer to one or more users with a higher transaction interval metric(e.g., with a longer amount of time spanned by the users' financialtransaction data), while a provider of an offer for a smaller purchase,such as an impulse purchase, may not have such a preference and myprovide its offer to users with a lower transaction interval metric(e.g., with a shorter amount of time spanned by the users' financialtransaction data).

In certain embodiments, the selection module 202 may provide aninterface (e.g., a graphical user interface (GUI), an applicationprogramming interface (API), a command line interface (CLI), and/or thelike) for a provider to set one or more thresholds whereby a user'sfinancial transaction data may satisfy a transaction metric for an offerfrom the provider. By setting one or more thresholds whereby a user'sfinancial transaction data may satisfy a transaction metric, a providerof an offer may target certain users for the offer based on the users'financial transaction history. For example, a provider of an offer maydefine a transaction metric (e.g., one or more thresholds of atransaction metric) requiring that users who receive the offer own avehicle, spend at least a selected percentage of the user's income in aselected geographical region, earn at least a selected amount per year,have at least six months of financial transaction data available to theselection module 202, have spent at least a selected amount at one oftwo of the provider's competitors, and have at least a 75% confidencelevel that the user's financial transaction data includes all of theuser's financial transactions. The selection module 202, in oneembodiment, may allow a provider of an offer to select a cap and/or aminimum on a number of users that will receive the offer, to adjust oneor more thresholds of a transaction metric until at least a minimumnumber of users are selected, and/or the like. In this manner, incertain embodiments, a provider of an offer may target the offer tousers most likely to benefit from and/or accept the offer, based on theusers' own financial transaction data, aggregated from multiple sources.

In a further embodiment, the selection module 202 may use a transactionmetric to compare one or more available offers for a user to determine abenefit of the offers to the user based on the user's financialtransaction data. For example, the selection module 202 may select auser to receive an offer for an auto loan with a lower interest ratethan the user's current auto loan interest rate, determined based on theuser's financial transaction data, which may save the user money ontheir loan payment each month. Similarly, in another example, theselection module 202 may select the user to receive an offer to switchto a different mortgage company offering mortgage rates of 3.5% based onuser's current mortgage interest rate of 4.0%. Other offers may includepotential benefits such as lower interest rates, lower fees, higherinvestment rates, shorter payment schedules, discounts, promotions,coupons, an early loan payoff, a balance transfer, or the like.

In some embodiments, the available offers may be posted or otherwisemade available by a third party system 108 of an advertiser, promoter,or the like (e.g., a provider of an offer). If there are multiple offersavailable to a user, the selection module 202 may select the best offerfor the user. The best offer may be the offer that provides the greatestbenefit to the user in terms of a discount, monthly payment, interestrate, or the like, in terms of the user's financial goals, as describedbelow, and/or the like. In a further embodiment, the selection module202 may present a plurality of the multiple offers available to the userso that the user may choose to accept one or more of the availableoffers.

In some embodiments, the selection module 202 selects a user for anoffer based on the user's purchase history, determined from the user'sfinancial transaction data. For example, the selection module 202 maydetermine that the user spends at least $100 a month on home improvementgoods. Accordingly, the selection module 202 may select the user foroffers providing discounts, promotions, coupons, or the like, on homeimprovement items. Similarly, the selection module 202 may select theuser for offers providing discounts, promotions, coupons, or the like onhome improvement items from a particular home improvement retailer,vendor, store, or the like, such as the Home Depot®, Lowe's®, or thelike.

In one embodiment, the selection module 202 selects a user for an offerbased on one or more financial transactions of other users (e.g., one ormore other users which the selection module 202 determines have similarinterests and/or purchasing habits, based on the users' financialtransaction data). The selection module 202 may select a user for anoffer associated with a transaction that is present in the financialtransaction data for the one or more other users (e.g., with similarinterests and/or spending habits) but not yet present in the selecteduser's financial transaction data, acting as a recommendation engineallowing the selected user to discover something new that other similarusers already enjoy. For example, the selection module 202, based on auser's financial transaction data, may determine that a user purchasescertain items regularly on Amazon.com®. The selection module 202 mayalso determine that one or more other users have recently purchasedsimilar items at Amazon.com® or at another retailer based on theirfinancial transaction data. Accordingly, the selection module 202 mayselect the user to receive an offer for the items that the other usershave purchased based on the other users' financial transaction data(e.g., the offer may include a message such as “Users like you haverecently purchased these products from these retailers. Buy now and save5%,” or the like).

In a further embodiment, the selection module 202 selects a user for anoffer based on the user's search history, which may be stored along withthe user's financial transaction data (e.g., on a mobile device 102, oranother information handling device 102 of a user). For example, theselection module 202 may determine that the user has searched for newvehicles over the past week, and, based on the search history data, mayselect the user to receive one or more offers from various new and/orused car dealers, banks offering deals for auto loans, deals from carinsurance companies, and/or the like. In certain embodiments, theselection module 202 may select a category for an offer based on auser's search history, and may select the user for a specific offerwithin the category based on the user's financial transaction data, asdescribed above. In one embodiment, the selection module 202 may selecta user for an offer in response to both the user's search history datasatisfying a search metric associated with the offer (e.g., the user hassearched for a selected term within a selected time period) and theuser's financial transaction data satisfying a transaction metric, asdescribed above.

In certain embodiments, the offer may comprise an offer that the offerprovider has paid to have a priority over one or more other offer thatwere not paid, and/or that paid less. For example, the selection module202 may select a user for a car insurance offer. The car insurance offermay be an offer paid for by a car insurance company such that the offermay have a higher priority than one or more different offers that werenot paid for by other car insurance companies, or for which the othercar insurance companies paid less.

In one embodiment, the selection module 202 selects a user for an offerbased on the user's schedule, which may be stored along with the user'sfinancial transaction data (e.g., on a mobile device 102, or anotherinformation handling device 102 of a user). In certain embodiments, theuser's schedule is determined from a calendar associated with the user,location information associated with the user, or the like. For example,the selection module 202 may determine that the user drives past aMcDonald's® or other restaurant every evening on his way home from work,based on GPS data or other location data for the user. Accordingly, theselection module 202 may select the user to receive a coupon redeemableat the McDonald's®. The selection module 202, in some embodiments,selects the user to receive offers associated with holidays, birthdays,vacations, or other events as determined from the user's schedule.

In one embodiment, the location module 204 is configured to determine atarget location and/or a target time for presenting an offer to a userbased on the user's financial transaction data. A target location, invarious embodiments, may comprise a location where an offer is mostlikely to be accepted by a user, most likely to be noticed by a user,most likely to be usable by a user, and/or the like. In one embodiment,the location module 204 may select a target location where the offer isredeemable and/or may otherwise be used, such as a location associatedwith a provider of the offer, so that the user receives the offer whenthe user is at or near (e.g., within a selected distance) the locationwhere the offer may be accepted and used. Such an offer and/or targetlocation may comprise “complimentary spend” based on a user's financialtransaction data (e.g., a purchase at a location that a user alreadyfrequents, but for a good and/or service the user has not previouslypurchased).

For example, as described above, the selection module 202 may select anoffer for a good and/or service identified in a user's financialtransaction data at a competitor of a provider. However, if the useralready frequents the provider, but for a different good and/or service,the location module 204 may select a location associated with theprovider as a target location for an offer for the food and/or servicepreviously purchased from the competitor, may select a locationassociated with the competitor as a target location for the offer, orboth. For example, if a user typically purchases a roast beef sandwichfrom Arby's® on Wednesdays and purchases a chicken sandwich fromMcDonald's® on Fridays, the location module 204 may select Fridays justbefore lunch as a target time for an offer for an Arby's® chickensandwich, may select McDonald's® or being en route to McDonald's® as atarget location for an offer for an Arby's® chicken sandwich, and/or thelike. As described above, in certain embodiments, the selection module202 may process financial transaction data identifying specific items auser has purchased (e.g., the item's name, SKU, UPC, EAN, GTIN, and/orthe like) in order to provide more accurate product-level targeting. Inanother example, the location module 204 may determine that a user isabout to finish a meal, has finished a meal without ordering a dessert,or the like and may select the user's time and location as a target timeand location for an offer for a dessert item and/or location within aselected distance (e.g., a dessert item and/or location which the userhas not tried before, based on the user's financial transaction data).By monitoring the user's location data in real time, in certainembodiments, the location module 204 may allow offers to be dynamicallytargeted and provided to a user at optimal locations and/or times, basedon the user's own financial transaction data and location data.

In one embodiment, the location module 204 may select a competitor of aprovider of an offer as a target location for presenting the offer,because the user is likely to be purchasing goods and/or services alsoavailable from the provider, and the user's financial transaction datamay indicate that the user has purchased from the competitor with atleast a selected frequency in the past, and/or the like. In a furtherembodiment, the location module 204 may select as a target location aplace where the user has at least a selected likelihood of being onroute to a competitor of the provider of the offer, as the user may bemore likely to re-route to the provider's location while further awayfrom the competitor (e.g., such that the offer is presented to the useras early as possible, with at least a selected level of certainty thatthe user is en route to a competitor's location). Accordingly, incertain embodiments, a target location may comprise and/or be associatedwith a target time (e.g., absolute, relative) determined by the locationmodule 204, selected by a provider, or the like.

For example, in one embodiment, the location module 204 may determine,based on location data and/or on a user's financial transaction data,that the user has a 90% chance of being on route to a selectedcompetitor when traveling in a certain direction on a certain road at acertain time on a certain day, and the location module 204 may selectthe certain direction on the certain road at the certain time on thecertain day as the target location. In one embodiment, a provider of anoffer may provide one or more parameters for a target location to thetarget module 204, such as a threshold likelihood that the user is enroute to a competitor, an identity of a competitor, a geographic regionfor a target location, and/or the like.

In certain embodiments, the location module 204 may determine a targetlocation based on one or more offers available to a user based on theuser's financial transaction data. In some embodiments, a targetlocation comprises a physical location, such as a brick-and-mortarstore, a mall, an airport, a restaurant, or the like. In certainembodiments, a target location comprises an online location, such as awebsite, a chat room, a social media network, or the like. In variousembodiments, a target location comprises a location associated with acompetitor of a provider of an offer (e.g., the company, organization,entity, or the like that provides the offer).

In certain embodiments, the location module 204 is configured to monitorlocation data from one or more sensors for a user relative to a targetlocation, in embodiments where the target location comprises a physicallocation (e.g., to determine when the user has arrived at a targetlocation, when the user is approaching a target location, when the userhas arrived within a selected distance of the target location, or thelike). The one or more sensors may include GPS sensors, proximitysensors, wireless beacons, network adapters, and/or other sensorsconfigured to determine location data for a user. The one or moresensors may comprise part of an information handling device 102 of theuser, such as a smart phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, smartwatch, or the like. In a further embodiment, a sensor may comprise abeacon in communication with the user's information handling device 102such that when the user comes within a communication proximity of thebeacon, the beacon sends the location data of the beacon and/or theuser's information handling device 102 to the location module 204.

In various embodiments, the location module 204 monitors for locationdata by polling the sensors at periodic intervals for location data. Ina further embodiment, the location module 204 monitors for location databy listening for location data sent from the sensors. In certainembodiments, the location module 204 monitors for the user's onlinelocation data by monitoring a user's browsing history (e.g., usingcookies, or the like, to monitor, log, and track a user's browsingactivities).

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the location module 204 maybe located on a user's information handling device 102, may becommunicatively coupled to a sensor, a beacon, or the like, and maydetermine location data for the user's device 102. In such anembodiment, the location module 204 provides the location data to a PFMprovider of the user (e.g., another portion of the location module 204,the offer module 206, or the like), where it may be subsequently used todetermine one or more offers to present to the user based on thelocation data relative to a target location for the one or more offers.

The offer module 206, in one embodiment, is configured to dynamicallyprovide an offer to a user in response to monitored location data fromthe one or more sensors of the location module 204 satisfying the targetlocation. In some embodiments, the location data satisfies the targetlocation by being within a predetermined proximity of the targetlocation, approaching the target location, or the like. For example, ifthe target location comprises a restaurant, the offer module 206 maydetermine that the location data satisfies the target location when theuser is within five miles of the restaurant. In some embodiments, onlinelocation data may satisfy an online target location when a user visits aparticular website, social network, or the like.

In certain embodiments, the offer module 206 dynamically provides theoffer to the user by sending an electronic message, such as an email, atext, an instant message, a push notification, or the like when thelocation data indicates that the user, and/or an information handlingdevice 102 of the user, is at a location that satisfies the targetlocation. In an online embodiment, the offer module 206 may dynamicallyprovide an offer to a user by generating a pop-up window, presenting abanner-ad, displaying a mobile ad, or the like.

In certain embodiments, the offer module 206 dynamically provides anoffer to a user when the user reaches a communication proximity to abeacon located at a store, retailer, mall, airport, university,restaurant, or another target location. For example, as the user walksinto a store, a beacon at the store may detect the user's smart phone102 is within a proximity of the beacon such that the beacon cancommunicate with it (e.g., using Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi®, near fieldcommunication (NFC), and/or the like). The beacon may send location datato the location module 204, which may then trigger the offer module 206to dynamically provide an offer for the user to use at the store on theuser's smart phone 102 as the user walks into the store in response tothe user's location satisfying the target location for the offer.

Similarly, the offer module 206 may dynamically provide an offer to auser at a point in the store. In certain embodiments, a store may havebeacons set up in different departments, aisles, or other areas withinthe store such that when the user walks into an area of the store, abeacon in that area may send the user's location within the store to thelocation module 204. For example, as a user walks into the plumbingsection at a Home Depot®, the beacon for that area of the store may sendthe user's location data to the location module 204, and the offermodule 206 may dynamically provide a coupon for plumbing supplies to theuser in response to the user's location satisfying the target locationfor the coupon.

In one embodiment, at least a portion of the offer module 206 is locatedon a user's information handling device 102, and receives an offer forthe user in response to the location data that the location module 204provides satisfying a target location for the offer. The offer module206 may receive the offer via a data network 106, an email, a textmessage, an instant message protocol, a social media network, a website,a web browser plug-in, a mobile application, a push notification, anAPI, and/or the like. In such an embodiment, the presentation module310, described below, may present the offer that the offer module 206received on an electronic display of the user's information handlingdevice 102.

FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of a module 300 for content presentationbased on transaction history. The module 300, in one embodiment,includes an embodiment of an advertising module 104. The advertisingmodule 104, in one embodiment, includes one or more of a selectionmodule 202, a location module 204, and an offer module 206, which may besubstantially similar to the selection module 202, the location module204, and the offer module 206 described above with reference to FIG. 2.Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the advertising module 104 includesone or more of a transaction module 302, an assistance module 304, averification module 306, a goal module 308, and a presentation module310, which are described in more detail below.

The transaction module 302, in one embodiment, is configured to access auser's financial transaction data to determine whether the user shouldbe selected for the offer. As described above, in certain embodiments,the user's transaction data is stored, managed, maintained, organized,or the like, by a PFM provider. A PFM provider may be an entity thatassists a user in the user's personal financial management by providinga single place where the user can view his contact information,identification information, financial information, financial transactiondata, financial contract data, loan data, mortgage data, or the like.For example, a PFM provider may be an online server where the user canlog in to view his/her financial transaction data and track spending,create financial goals, create budgets, track investments, or the like.

The transaction module 302 may receive a user's authorization to accessthe user's financial transaction data from a database of the PFM, andallow the transaction module 302 and/or the selection module 202 todetermine whether the user should be selected for various offers basedon the financial transaction data. Because the user's data is storedsecurely in a database of the PFM, such as the user's contact data,identification data, and financial transaction data, unauthorized usersare unable to view the data unless the user allows them access to thedata.

In one embodiment, the transaction module 302 checks the user'sfinancial transaction data for one or more characteristics associatedwith an offer, such as a particular financial transaction type, aparticular item purchased in a financial transaction, a financialtransaction that satisfies the transaction metric, a financialtransaction that occurred at a particular location, and/or the like inorder to determine whether the user should be selected for the offer.For example, the transaction module 302 may check the user's financialtransaction data for any purchases made at Costco® within the past 30days where the user spent more than $150 to determine whether the usershould be selected for an offer redeemable online or at a Costco® store.

In one embodiment, the assistance module 304 is configured toelectronically assist the user to accept the offer. In certainembodiments, the assistance module 304 electronically assists the userto accept the offer by pre-populating one or more data fields with theuser's identification and financial data. For example, the assistancemodule 304 may prepopulate one or more web forms with the user'sinformation, such as the user's contact information, credit cardinformation, billing information, or the like, in response to the useraccepting an offer online.

In certain embodiments, the assistance module 304 accesses the user'sidentification and financial data from a database of a PFM providerassociated with the user in order to facilitate acceptance of the offer.For example, the user may provide credentials to the assistance module304, such as a username and password, a pass phrase, a PIN number, anaccess number, or the like, which the assistance module 304 may use toaccess the user's data securely stored at the user's PFM provider. Inthis manner, the user does not have to manually enter his contactinformation and/or billing information, for example, to completeacceptance of the offer, which may increase the likelihood that the userwill complete the financial transaction associated with the offer.

The verification module 306, in one embodiment, is configured to verifythe user completed a financial transaction associated with the offerbased on subsequent financial transaction data received for the user.For example, the verification module 306 may check a user's financialtransaction data (e.g., aggregated bank account and/or credit cardstatements) a month after the user was presented with an offer for a newauto loan to determine whether the user made any payments to the autoloan company associated with the offer, which may indicate that the userswitched their current auto loan to the new auto loan company.Similarly, the verification module 306 may check the user's financialtransaction data for a purchase at the Home Depot® or another retaillocation the same day an offer redeemable at the Home Depot® or otherretail location is provided to the user to verify the user made apurchase at the Home Depot® or other retail location in response to theprovided offer, and/or the like.

In a further embodiment, the verification module 306 verifies the usercompleted a financial transaction associated with a coupon, promotion,or discount by determining that a financial transaction associated withthe offer shows that the coupon, promotion, or discount was used orapplied to the purchase price. For example, the verification module 306may verify that the user bought a product advertised with a 20% discountby determining the 20% discount was applied to a subsequent financialtransaction associated with the product. In this manner, theverification module 306 may determine whether an offer was effective asan incentive for the user to purchase the product.

In one embodiment, the verification module 306 determines which of oneor more different offers presented to one or more users is moreeffective. For example, the verification module 306 may perform A/Btesting, or a similar statistical experiment, where two or moredifferent offers, versions of an offer, or the like are presented to auser and/or to various users, as selected based on the users' financialtransaction data, to determine which offers or versions of an offer aremore effective. For example, two different versions of an offer may beidentical except for a variation that might effect a user's behavior,such as a different discount amount, a different interest rate,different advertising text, a different image, or the like. In anotherexample, two different offers may be identical except for the method ofdelivery—one offer may be sent to a user via email while the other offermay be sent via a text message. The verification module 306 maydetermine an offer's effectiveness according to a transaction amountassociated with each offer, which may include a number of users thatredeem an offer, a number of offers that were accepted, an amount ofmoney spent associated with an offer, or the like as determined bysubsequent financial transaction data for one or more users.Accordingly, the verification module 306 may determine that the moreeffective offer is the offer associated with the highest transactionsize and/or amount.

In a further embodiment, the verification module 306 cooperates with theselection module 202 to allow a provider of an offer to test or samplean offer based on a transaction metric. For example, the selectionmodule 202 may select a sample number of users of a size selected by aprovider of an offer and the verification module 306 may verify whichusers of the sample completed a financial transaction associated withthe offer and provide an indication of a percentage of the plurality ofusers selected as the sample which completed a financial transactionassociated with the offer to the provider. If the provider is satisfiedwith the results from the verification module 306, the provider may runa larger campaign to provide the offer to more users. Otherwise, theprovider may change or adjust the offer and run another sample test, orthe like.

The goal module 308, in one embodiment, is configured to determine oneor more financial goals and/or budgets of the user. The user, forexample, may setup various financial goals using a PFM provider'ssystem, such as budgets or spending goals (e.g., grocery budgets,entertainment budgets, gas budgets, and/or the like), debt payoff goals,retirement goals, large purchase goals (e.g., save to purchase avehicle, home, or other large purchase in a selected amount of time),home improvement goals, and/or the like. The goals may be storedsecurely with the user's financial transaction data, the user'sidentification data, and/or the like. In one example, as a user iswalking into a Home Depot® the offer module 206 may provide an offer tothe user, which the presentation module 310, below, may present to theuser, that provides a discount to the user for various home improvementproducts based on the user's home improvement goal. For instance, thegoal module 308 may determine that the user has not reached herpredefined budget for home improvement spending for the month.Accordingly, based on the user's financial goal data, the selectionmodule 202 may select the user for home improvement offers, which may beprovided to the user in response to location data from one or moresensors indicating the user's location satisfies a target location of anoffer.

In certain embodiments, the goal module 308 customizes one or morecontent elements of an offer based on the user's financial goals. Thecontent elements may include text, graphics, images, animations, videos,audio tracks, or the like. Continuing with the previous example, thegoal module 308 may customize the text of the home improvement offer toreflect the user's budget for home improvement goods. For instance, theoffer text may recite “It's almost the end of the month, and you haven'treached your home improvement monthly budget of $100. Here is a 20%discount coupon good on home improvement products at The Home Depot®.”

In one embodiment, the presentation module 310 is configured to presentthe offer to the user on an electronic display associated with the user.The electronic display may comprise a display of an information handlingdevice 102, a digital billboard, a digital in-store display, a digitalairport display, or the like. Continuing again with the previousexample, the presentation module 310 may present the offer provided bythe offer module 206 on the user's smart phone display and/or on anin-store display when the user's smart phone comes into a communicationproximity with the in-store display. In this manner, the presentationmodule 310 may present the offer to the user in various locations toreduce the chance that the user will not see the offer.3.

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic flow chart diagram of one embodiment of amethod 400 for presenting content based on transaction history. In oneembodiment, the method 400 begins and the selection module 202 selects402 a user for an offer in response to the user's financial transactiondata satisfying a transaction metric associated with the offer. In afurther embodiment, the location module 204 determines 404 a targetlocation for the offer based on the user's financial transaction data.In some embodiments, the location module 204 monitors 406 location datafrom one or more sensors for the user relative to the target location.In one embodiment, if the location module 204 and/or the offer module206 determines 408 the monitored location data does not satisfy thetarget location, the method 400 ends. Otherwise, the offer module 206dynamically provides 410 the offer to the user in response to themonitored location data from the one or more sensors satisfying thetarget location, and the method 400 ends.

FIG. 5 depicts a schematic flow chart diagram of one embodiment of amethod 500 for presenting content based on a transaction history. In oneembodiment, the method 500 begins, and the transaction module 302accesses 502 a user's identification and financial transaction data. Incertain embodiments, the transaction module 302 accesses the user'sidentification and financial transaction data from a database of a PFMprovider where the data is securely stored such that the data is notavailable to unauthorized users.

In a further embodiment, the selection module 202 selects 504 a user foran offer in response to the user's financial transaction data, which thetransaction module 302 accessed, satisfying a transaction metricassociated with the offer. In one embodiment, the location module 204determines 506 a target location for the offer based on the user'sfinancial transaction data. In some embodiments, the location module 204monitors 508 location data from one or more sensors for the userrelative to the target location. In one embodiment, if the locationmodule 204 and/or the offer module 206 determines 510 the monitoredlocation data does not satisfy the target location, the method 500 ends.Otherwise, the goal module 308, in one embodiment, determines 512whether the user has established financial goals, budgets, or the like.

If the goal module 308 determines 512 that the user has setup financialgoals, which may be based on the user's financial transaction data, thegoal module 308 customizes 514 one or more content elements of the offerbased on the user's financial goals. Whether the goal module 308determines 512 the user has financial goals or not, the offer module 206dynamically provides 516 the offer to the user in response to themonitored location data from the one or more sensors satisfying thetarget location. In one embodiment, the assistance module 304electronically assists 518 the user to accept the offer. In certainembodiments, the assistance module 304 electronically assists 518 theuser to accept the offer by pre-populating one or more data fields, formfields, or the like with the user's identification and financialtransaction data (e.g., billing information, contact information, or thelike). In a further embodiment, the verification module 306 verifies 520the user completed a financial transaction associated with the offerbased on subsequent financial transaction data for the user, and themethod 500 ends.

FIG. 6 depicts a schematic flow chart diagram of one embodiment of amethod 600 for presenting content based on transaction history. In oneembodiment, the method 600 begins and the location module 204 determines602 location data for a user using one or more sensors associated withthe user. In a further embodiment, the location module 204 provides 604the location data to a PFM provider of the user. In certain embodiments,the location module 204 and/or the offer module 206 determines 606whether the location data satisfies a target location for the offer,which may be determined according to financial transaction data for theuser. If the location module 204 and/or the offer module 206 determines606 that the location data does not satisfy the target location, themethod 600 ends. Otherwise, in certain embodiments, the offer module 206receives 608 an offer for the user. In one embodiment, the presentationmodule 310 presents 610 the offer to the user on an electronic displayassociated with the user, and the method 600 ends.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a selection module thatselects a user for an offer in response to the user's financialtransaction data satisfying a transaction metric associated with theoffer; a location module that determines a target location for the offerbased on the user's financial transaction data and that monitorslocation data from one or more sensors for the user relative to thetarget location; and an offer module that dynamically provides the offerto the user in response to the monitored location data from the one ormore sensors satisfying the target location.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein identification data identifying the user and the financialtransaction data of the user is securely stored in one or more databasesof a personal financial management (PFM) provider such that theidentification data and the financial transaction data is unavailable toa provider of the offer.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprisinga transaction module that accesses the user's financial transaction datafrom the one or more databases of the PFM provider to determine whetherone or more transactions from the user's financial transaction datasatisfy the transaction metric associated with the offer.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 2, further comprising an assistance module thatelectronically assists the user to accept the offer by pre-populatingone or more data fields with the user's identification data and theuser's financial transaction data stored in the one or more databases ofthe PFM provider to facilitate acceptance of the offer.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the selection module selects the offer as arecommendation to the user based on financial transaction data of one ormore other users that satisfies the transaction metric, the offerassociated with a transaction identified in the financial transactiondata of the one or more other users but not yet identified in the user'sfinancial transaction data.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a verification module that verifies the user completed afinancial transaction associated with the offer by locating thefinancial transaction associated with the offer in subsequent financialtransaction data for the user.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein theverification module determines which of the offer and one or moredifferent offers presented to the user is more effective based ontransaction amounts associated with the offer and the one or moredifferent offers in subsequent financial transaction data for the user.8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the user comprises one of aplurality of users the selection module selects as a sample for theoffer based on the transaction metric and the verification module sendsa provider of the offer an indication of a percentage of the pluralityof users selected as the sample which completed a financial transactionassociated with the offer.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theselection module further selects the user for the offer based at leastin part on search history data for the user satisfying a search metricassociated with the offer.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theuser's financial transaction data comprises data associated withindividual items that the user purchased during a financial transaction,the selection module selecting the user for the offer based at least inpart on the data associated with the individual items that the userpurchased.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a goalmodule that customizes one or more content elements of the offer to theuser based on one or more financial goals of the user, the financialgoals maintained for the user by a personal financial management (PFM)provider storing the user's financial transaction data.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the target location comprises a locationof a competitor of a provider of the offer.
 13. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more of a globalpositioning system (GPS) sensor, a proximity sensor, and a wirelessbeacon.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction metriccomprises one or more of: a vehicle ownership metric indicating one ormore of whether the user owns a vehicle, a value of a vehicle of theuser, one or more of a make and a model of a vehicle of the user, amodel year of a vehicle of the user, and an amount spent on fuel for avehicle of the user; a geographical spending metric indicating one ormore of the user's overall spending in one or more geographical regionsand the user's categorized spending in one or more geographical regions;a housing cost metric indicating one or more of whether the user owns aresidence, whether the user rents a residence, a housing cost for theuser, and a location of a residence of the user; a food spending metricindicating one or more of an overall amount the user spends on food, anamount the user spends on groceries, and an amount the user spends onrestaurants; an income metric indicating the user's income; a savingsmetric indicating an amount of money the user saves; a consistencymetric indicating an amount of variation in spending of the user; acompetitor metric indicating one or more of an amount spent at acompetitor of a provider of the offer, a frequency of transactions at acompetitor of a provider of the offer, and one or more identities ofcompetitors of a provider of the offer with which the user hastransacted; and a lifetime value metric comprising one or more of aprojected total value of the user to a provider of the offer as acustomer, and an amount of time until a provider of the offer isprojected to break even on the offer with the user as a customer. 15.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction metric comprises atotal spend metric indicating a confidence of whether the user'sfinancial transaction data includes each of the user's financialtransactions aggregated from multiple entities.
 16. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the transaction metric comprises a transaction intervalmetric indicating an amount of time spanned by the user's financialtransaction data.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least aportion of the selection module, the location module, and the offermodule comprises one or more of logic hardware and executable code, theexecutable code stored on one or more non-transitory computer readablestorage media.
 18. An apparatus comprising: one or more location sensorsconfigured to determine location data for a user; a location module thatdetermines location data for the user using the one or more locationsensors and that provides the location data to a personal financialmanagement (PFM) provider of the user; an offer module that receives anoffer for the user in response to the location data satisfying a targetlocation for the offer, the target location determined based onfinancial transaction data of the user stored at the PFM provider; and apresentation module that displays the offer to the user on an electronicdisplay associated with the user.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, furthercomprising an assistance module that electronically assists the user toaccept the offer by pre-populating one or more data fields of the offerwith data determined based on the user's financial transaction data tofacilitate acceptance of the offer.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18,wherein the offer comprises content elements customized for the user,the customizations based on one or more financial goals of the user. 21.The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more sensors comprise aglobal positioning system (GPS) sensor of a portable informationhandling device of the user.
 22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein theone or more sensors comprise a beacon associated with the targetlocation, the location module providing the location data of the user tothe PFM provider in response to the user coming within a communicationproximity of the beacon, the received offer being associated with thetarget location.
 23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the targetlocation comprises a competitor of an advertiser providing the offer.24. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the electronic display comprisesa digital display of a merchant located at the target location, theoffer being presented on the digital display in response to the userbeing within a proximity of the digital display.
 25. A methodcomprising: selecting a user for an offer in response to the user'sfinancial transaction data satisfying a transaction metric associatedwith the offer; determining a target location for the offer based on theuser's financial transaction data; monitoring location data from one ormore sensors for the user relative to the target location; anddynamically providing the offer to the user in response to the monitoredlocation data from the one or more sensors satisfying the targetlocation.